What a Texas Notary Writes Down About You, and What She May Not

People are usually relaxed about the seal and slightly uneasy about the book. The notary opens a bound record book, writes for thirty seconds, and closes it again, and nobody ever explains what went in there. On a document as personal as a medical power of attorney or a deed to a house, that is a fair thing to wonder about.

The short answer is that Texas is unusually specific here. The record is required, some of it is fixed by rule, and one category of information is expressly forbidden from going in at all. This guide sets out what is written down, what is not, how long it is kept, and why any of it is to your benefit.

The record is not optional

Tex. Gov't Code § 406.014 requires a Texas notary public to keep a record book of the notarizations she performs. The Texas Secretary of State is explicit that the book must be maintained whether or not any fees are charged, so a free notarization for a neighbor gets an entry exactly like a paid one at a closing table.

The administrative rules in 1 TAC ch. 87, subchapter F build the rest of the framework around it, with rules titled § 87.50 on prohibited personal information, § 87.51 on the form of the record book, § 87.52 on public information, § 87.53 on failure to provide, and § 87.54 on records retention. The existence of a rule called "Public information" is the clue to what this book actually is. It is not a private diary the notary keeps for herself. It is a record.

The rule worth knowing by heart

If you remember one thing from this article, remember this one.

1 TAC § 87.50 prohibits a Texas notary from recording in the notary record book a government-issued identification number, any other identifying number, or biometric data, including a thumbprint or fingerprint.

That is a prohibition, not a preference. So:

• Your driver license number does not go in the book.
• Your passport number does not go in the book.
• Your social security number certainly does not go in the book.
• Your thumbprint does not go in the book.

The notary inspects your identification carefully at the appointment, because she has to be satisfied you are who you say you are. Inspecting is the point. Transcribing the numbers is the part Texas has ruled out. If a Texas notary asks to take your thumbprint for her Texas record book, that request does not match the rule.

This matters most to signers who are already cautious about where their documents go: people signing immigration-adjacent paperwork, people who have been through identity theft, older signers whose families are watching out for them. The answer in all three cases is the same, and it is a rule rather than a promise.

How long it is kept, and why the two answers differ

There are two retention periods in Texas, and they do not match.

Traditional notarizations: ten years. § 406.014(g), added by S.B. 693 in the 2025 legislative session and effective 1 September 2025, requires the record book to be retained for ten years from the date of the notarization. That is a substantial increase, and it came in the same legislation that introduced mandatory notary education and created the personal-appearance offense in § 406.0091.

Online notarizations: at least five years. § 406.108(c) requires an online notary public to retain the electronic record of each online notarization, including the audio and video recording of the session, for at least five years. S.B. 693 did not amend that section, so the mismatch is real rather than an error in the reading.

The conservative practice, and the one recorded in this site's own compliance documentation, is to retain online records for ten years as well, so that a signer gets the same answer regardless of how the act was performed. Failing to maintain records under § 406.014 is itself a ground for the Secretary of State to act, added as § 406.009(d)(6) by the same 2025 bill.

Online notarizations create a recording

This one surprises people who choose a remote session for convenience, so it is worth saying before you book rather than after.

An online notarization is recorded. Under § 406.108(c) the electronic record includes the audio and video of the session, and it is retained. The identity-proofing and credential-analysis steps happen inside the platform, and the whole thing is designed to be reviewable later, which is the point of it.

The certificate is marked as well. Under 1 TAC § 87.41(e) every online notarial certificate must state "This notarial act was an online notarization." Omitting that statement is good cause for discipline under 1 TAC § 87.31(20). So an online notarization is visibly an online notarization on the face of the document, permanently.

Two further points about online sessions belong here. Under § 406.110(a) the signer may be physically located anywhere, while 1 TAC § 87.41(b) requires the online notary to be physically in Texas at the time of the act. And § 406.109(c) provides that the notary's electronic signature may be used only for online notarizations, so the two commissions do not bleed into each other. The comparison guide covers when a remote session is the better choice.

What the seal carries

The seal is a record too, in miniature. Under § 406.013 a Texas notary's seal carries her name and commission details, and for an online notary § 406.101(5) requires the electronic seal to confirm the online notary public's name, jurisdiction, identifying number and commission expiration date.

That is how a receiving agency, years later, checks that the person who sealed your document held a live Texas commission on the day she did it. It is also why § 406.016(b) prohibits signing a notarial certificate under any name other than the one the notary was commissioned under: a notary who recently married and has not updated her commission still signs as commissioned, because the seal and the signature have to match the public record.

Relatedly, § 406.019 requires a Texas notary to notify the Secretary of State of a change of address within ten days. The practical effect for you is that a notary stays findable, which matters if a document she sealed is questioned long after the appointment.

The fee side of the record

Money has its own paperwork, in a different chapter of the Government Code.

• § 603.006: an officer who by law may charge a fee for a service shall keep a fee book and shall enter in it all fees charged for services rendered.
• § 603.007: a fee is not payable until the officer produces, or is ready to produce, a bill in writing containing the details of the fee. In plain terms, you can ask for an itemized written bill and you are entitled to one.
• § 603.008: a notary public shall keep posted at all times in a conspicuous place a complete list of fees the person may charge by law. A mobile notary has no public office, so the website carries the posted list; that is what the fee schedule inside the legal notice at the bottom of every page on this site is doing.

The itemization is not bureaucracy for its own sake. § 406.024(b) provides that a notary may charge a fee only for an acknowledgment or official act under § 406.024(a), and not more than the authorized amount. A travel fee written into the record as a notarial fee would document an overcharge that never happened, which is exactly why travel is always a separate line. The fee guide works through the whole structure.

What the notary does not keep

Worth stating, because people assume the opposite.

• Not your document. The notary does not keep a copy. You leave with the original and every page of it.
• Not a filing. She does not file your document with a county clerk, record a deed or send anything to anyone. Those are separate services you would have to arrange specifically.
• Not an opinion about the contents. The record is of the act, not of the paperwork. A notarization verifies who signed, not what was signed, which is the subject of what a Texas notary can and cannot do.

Why the record is on your side

Here is the practical payoff, and it is the reason to want a careful notary rather than a fast one.

Suppose a power of attorney signed in 2026 is questioned in 2033. A relative says the signer was confused that day, or was not there at all, or that the signature is not hers. The document alone cannot answer that; it is a piece of paper with a signature on it. The notary's record can: it shows that this act was performed, on this date, for this person, who personally appeared.

Ten years of retention under § 406.014(g) is not an administrative burden invented for its own sake. It is roughly how long it takes for a family dispute to surface. The same is true of the audio-video recording of an online session, which is a far better answer to "was she pressured?" than anyone's memory seven years later.

That is also why the refusals exist. A notary who skips personal appearance or seals a document for a signer who could not follow what was happening has produced a record that will not survive being examined. The article on when a Texas notary must refuse goes through each of those grounds.

The short version

• A record book entry is required for every notarization, paid or free (§ 406.014).
• Your identification numbers and your fingerprints may not be recorded in it (1 TAC § 87.50).
• Traditional records are kept ten years (§ 406.014(g), effective 1 September 2025).
• Online records, including the session recording, are kept at least five years (§ 406.108(c)), and ten is the safer practice.
• Every online certificate must say it was an online notarization (1 TAC § 87.41(e)).
• You can ask for an itemized written bill (§ 603.007), and the fee list is posted (§ 603.008).
• The notary keeps a record of the act. She does not keep your document.

If you have a question about what will be recorded at your appointment, ask before you book. Send Gwen the details and she will confirm the act, the identification to bring and the full fee in advance. First-time signers may want the step-by-step guide as well.

Gwen is a Texas notary public, not an attorney, and cannot give legal advice or tell you which document you need. She notarizes documents you provide. She does not prepare, draft, select or advise on them.